KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 17 — One of three men suspected of planning an attack on the cancelled Better Beer Festival in Kuala Lumpur is linked to a gang behind last year’s Islamic State (IS) strike on the Movida nightclub in Puchong, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun said today.

Fuzi earlier today confirmed that three men were arrested for planning to attack the Beer Festival, houses of worship and entertainment outlets in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor.

One of them is a 25-year-old building contractor from Perak.

“One of the suspects from Perak has links to the ‘gagak hitam’ gang which bombed Movida on June 28 2016. He also has links with Muhammad Wandy in Syria,” Fuzi said during a press conference here today.

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The others arrested were a 19-year-old student from Kelantan, where a field test was conducted using improvised explosive devices (IED), and a 34-year-old ex-army officer.

Fuzi said the field test for the IED on September 28 was unsuccessful.

The explosive that the suspects were building had a 30m blast radius, Fuzi said.

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“There will be a lot of deaths if the bomb is set off at a beer festival,” he added.

The Movida attack saw two attackers throw a grenade into the bar in Puchong, injuring eight people.

Police previously cited a possible security threat when recommending against the Better Beer Festival.